Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
Культура Документы
Noel V. Teodoro
University of the Philippines
65
66
67
of negative values like sorrow, the lowliness and weaknesses of the Brown
(Filipino) race. As such, the Brown race will have to bow down to the
superiority of the white race to which the former is indebted for the logic,
morality and religion which saved the Indio during the dark ages (Salazar,
1983), when he was pictured as a cimarron (wild) and salvaje (barbaric), wild
and uncivilized in the minds of those from the west. Related to this, it can
be recalled that in 1889, on the occasion of the Paris Exposition (Schumacher,
1973), Rizal founded the Indios Bravos (The Noble Indios not wild nor
savages!), the primary objective of which was to uplift and promote the
esteem of the Filipinos by highlighting their positive traits, with the hope
that this would convince the Spaniards to correct their derogatory views of
the Indio and change their views of the colonized country.
68
69
this, the coffers of the country were almost empty, and instead of a surplus,
the country had to contend with deficits because it was always in deficit,
the Philippines was constantly wallowing in poverty (Agoncillo, 1980).
It is important to mention at this point the statement of Jaime C. de
Veyra that the Filipinos in Spain came from the different regions of the
archipelago (Jaena, 1974:xvi). Julio Llorente, a native of Cebu, finished his
doctorate in law in Madrid while writing for La solidaridad. Valentin
Ventura, who gave financial help to Rizal for the publication of his second
novel, El filibusterismo, was from Bacolor, Pampanga, and died in Barcelona
in 1935 (Quirino, 1995:201). Francisco Liongson, who also studied in
Madrid (Larkin, 1993:160-161), was Venturas townmate. Jose Maria
Panganiban was from Mambulao (now Jose Ma. Panganiban), Camarines
Norte. He also wrote for La solidaridad, and like Jaena and Ventura, died in
Barcelona on August 19, 1890 due to tuberculosis (Quirino, 1995:159-160).
From Vigan, Ilocos Sur came Isabelo de los Reyes, the founder of the
bilingual newspaper El Ilocano. He was exiled to Barcelona because of his
links with the Katipunan. His historical and anthropological works could
be compared with the works of Paterno and Rizal (specifically, the latters
annotation of Morgas Sucesos de las islas filipinas), wherein he discussed
that the ancient Philippine society had a culture and a civilization that he
could be proud of. Isabelo de los Reyes published from 1887 to 1909 the
following cultural studies: Filipinas: Articulos varios; Ilocandas: Varios trabajos
literarios; Las Visayas en la poca de la conquista; El folklore filipino; Historia de
Filipinas; Historia de Ilocos; and La religion antigua de los filipinos.
The brothers Manuel and Juan Luna y Novicio (who died of heart
attack in Hong Kong on December 7, 1899) were born in Badok, Ilocos
Norte. The latter was known for his painting called Spoliarium, which
was awarded the gold medal in the Exposicion de bellas artes, held in Madrid
in 1884. Jose Torres Bugallon of Salasa, Pangasinan, became a pensionado
and scholar in the Military Academy (Toledo) in 1892. Telesforo Sucgang
who came from Banga, Capiz (Banga is now part of Aklan), was a historical
painter, religious sculptor, and musical composer, who became a pensionado
for four years in Madrid (Manuel, 1955:437-440). Sucgang highlighted the
theme of Spain in the Philippines which was related to the program of
assimilation of the ilustrados through several paintings El desembarco de
Magallanes (1888), La llegada de Legazpi y Urdaneta, and La llegada del correo
espanol el la bahia de Manila (1887). Was there a deeper meaning in Sucgangs
use of the words desembarco (landing) and llegada (arrival)? Was this a form
of celebration of the landing or arrival of western civilization which
were symbolized by Magallanes, Legazpi and Urdaneta, the messengers
and emissaries of the forces of light which imposed itself on the oriental civilization, the indigenous society which Spain now refuses to embrace or assimilate?
70
71
present in the areas of politics, science, arts, literature, economy, agriculture and industry La solidaridad shall promote the just and legitimate
aspirations of Spanish provinces across the seas, proclaim their needs and
expose their problems needing solution Regarding the Philippines,
because these islands need full protection due to the absence of representation in the Corts, we shall give her special attention, and through this, we
can fulfill the patriotic duty in defending democratic principles in the
archipelago This province, which is inhabited by eight (8) million people,
should not remain as a land ruled or colonized by theocracy and traditionalism (Jaena, 1974:220-222; Agoncillo, 1980:150-151).
Jaena eventually left the work in La solidaridad. In his letter dated July
2, 1889 to Miguel Morayta Sagrario, a well known mason, leader of the
Anti-clerical League and a history professor at the Central Universidad de
Madrid, Jaena mentioned his plan to go to America. This did not push
through because of lack of funds and his active involvement with the
Progressive Republicans in Barcelona. One of the leaders of this organization, Juan Sol y Ortega, became a supporter of Jaena. Jaenas plan to go to
Cuba did not also push through when Manuel Becerra of the Ministerio de
Ultramar withdrew permission for Jaena to go to Spains colony in the
Caribbean. He continued his active participation in republican organizations in Barcelona and contributed to newspapers such as La publicidad
(where Rizal also wrote an article or two) and El ltigo nacional (which
firmly believed that human will and freedom are more powerful than a
hundred oppressions). Events in the Philippines were not given due
attention in these papers, and the editorial staff promised that they will
disseminate information on republican programs in the colonies, including
developments concerning citizenship rights in the Spanish empire.
Back then, Jaena (together with other Filipinos like Pedro Govantes y
Azcarraga and Tomas del Rosario) interacted with Spanish journalists like
Jesus Pando y Valle, editor of Los dos mundos, where he published an article
criticizing the defective system of taxation, forced labor and caciquismo. In
an article which came out on January 28, 1885 Jaena defended Govantes
and Eduardo de Lete, who previously published in the pro-republican El
globo (Madrid) articles which discussed the weaknesses of the government
and the church in the Philippines. Together with Rizal, Jaena also wrote in
the radical republican newspaper El progreso. He also debated with the
conservative editorial staff of La poca and La correspondencia de Espaa in the
newspaper El porvenir of Manuel Ruiz Zorilla, a progressive republican.
In July 1891, with the support of the Comit de propaganda (which
became Hermandad de San Patricio in Manila, headed by Pedro Serrano
Laktaw of Malolos, Bulacan), Jaena secretly returned to Manila for four
days, using the alias Diego Laura. Afraid of being caught, he escaped
72
73
others, the said newspaper published Jose Rizals article, El Amor Patrio
(Patriotism), which del Pilar translated into Tagalog. In 1870, while a
student of law at the University of Santo Tomas (he finished in 1880), he
fought with the parish priest of San Miguel, Manila over the exorbitant
baptismal fees charged by the Spanish friar. This was perhaps his first ever
personal encounter with the frailocracia and colonial power, the same ones
who were behind the deportation of his older brother, the secular priest Fr.
Toribio H. del Pilar (Schumacher, 1981:24), to Guam due to his alleged
involvement in the Cavite uprising in 1872 (Schumacher, 1973). Plaridel
criticized and attacked the monastic authority, which he considered
harmful and a real obstacle to good governance, in literary works in
Tagalog or Spanish. Some of them were written as poems such as Pasiong
Dapat Ipag-alab ng Puso ng Taong Baba sa Kalupitan ng Fraile (Passion that
Should Burn in the Hearts of the Lowly People Oppressed by the Friar)
Dupluhan, Sagot nang Espaa sa Hibik ng Pilipinas (Spains Reply to the Cry
of the Philippines,); some were parodies, for example, Dasalan at Toksohan
(Prayer and Jest), Caiigat Cayo (Beware); and others were manifestos
and pamphlets like Viva Espaa, Viva el ejercito, !Fuera los frailes! and
Manifiesto que a la noble nacion espaola dirigen los leales filipinos.
In 1885, del Pilar urged the cabezas de barangay of Malolos to oppose the
order which gave the friars the power to change the list of taxpayers. In
1887, he was able to persuade the governor of Malolos to criticize Fr. Felipe
Garcia for violating the directive of the government which prohibited the
viewing of the dead in the church (Zaide, 1968:52). In the same year, he
sided with the people of Binondo against their parish priest who assigned
high positions in the church to the mestizos, to the disadvantage of the
natives whose progress was always suppressed and prevented by discrimination and corruption. Together with Doroteo Corts and Jose Ramos,
del Pilar was active in launching the demonstration of March 1, 1888, which
was participated in by about 800 people who demanded for the removal of
the friars, including the dismissal of their archbishop.
In Barcelona, the Imprenta Ibrica de Francisco Fossas published two
analytical essays of Mh. Plaridel, namely, La soberania monacal en Filipinas
(1888) and La frailocracia filipina (1889), which provided convincing arguments of the economic, political and religious dimensions of church
management, not unlike the management of business corporations. The
colony was portrayed as relentlessly burdened by excessive taxes, other
expenses, and the voluntary services rendered by the converts/believers of
the missionaries and friars, who became rich to the detriment of the
Filipinos. About the tributes and impuestos, del Pilar (Del Pilar, 1974:194195) said that the Filipinos paid direct taxes which consisted of residence
certificates, municipal, city and provincial taxes, and indirect taxes levied
74
75
76
Trinidad Rizal, and Josefa Rizal (who became the leader of the womens
chapter of the Katipunan).
It was not easy to unite the ilustrados, as was the dream of del Pilar,
Ponce and Rizal. There were times when the unity of Filipinos in Spain was
like fragile glass. For example, the conflict between del Pilar and Rizal was
a major hindrance in the community or colony, dividing the Filipinos
into two camps, the Pilaristas (pro-del Pilar) versus the Rizalistas (proRizal). The conflict may have started when Rizal criticized the Filipino
students for their lack of commitment. He was hurt that they were not
giving due attention to their studies and to the nationalist campaign led by
the editorial staff of La solidaridad. Instead, Rizal noted that they were busy
with fashion, gambling and womanizing. Ariston Bautista Lim, for example, was known to have an amulet that was supposed to ensure that no
woman would reject him (Joaquin, 1981:48). Leading the playboys was one
named Zacarias Robles (Joaquin, 1981:48). Rizal was not remiss in reminding, if not admonishing, the Filipinos in Barcelona and Madrid. He thought
that through his example as a model ilustrado, he could give moral and
intellectual leadership to his compatriots which he attempted to actualize
through the organization Indios Bravos.
However, on December 31, 1890, in the midst of celebrating new years
eve, Rizal came out as a boastful person when he refused to offer his copatriots free champagne, followed by his observations of the Filipino
students lack of enthusiasm in their studies. The following day, the Filipinos proposed to unite the colony under one elected president, Rizal or
del Pilar. Rizal won, although he was already harboring ill feelings towards
del Pilar because of the alleged attempt of his supporters to disown or
topple Rizal down from power as the legitimate leader of the Filipino
community in Spain. In the end, del Pilar had to lead when his opponent resigned and ultimately left Madrid for Hong Kong and eventually
the Philippines. Rizal refused the attempts by del Pilar and his friend
Ferdinand Blumentritt to write again for La solidaridad. According to Rizal,
he did not want to waste his time in a project that had no relevance to cure
the cancer which was destroying Filipino society, as he depicted and
analyzed in his novels, Noli me tangere (Berlin, Germany, 1887) and El
filibusterismo (Ghent, Belgium, 1891). Rizal said the remedy or medicine
must be brought to the patient (Schumacher, 1973:233). The remedy was
not in Madrid, which was what La solidaridad asserted, but in our own
country, the real arena of battle. Despite everything, del Pilar still hoped for
Rizals support who, perhaps because he was steeped in books (Schumacher,
1973:234), seemed to lack the capacity to understand the different ways and
temperaments of human beings. For del Pilar, what was important was
unity and consensus deriving shared sentiments and aspirations. There
77
were two things to aspire for the elimination of all obstacles to freedom
in the Philippines and the ultimate removal of the Spanish flag (Schumacher,
1973; Del Pilar, 1955; 1958).
It may be recalled that it was del Pilar who proposed that Rizal write
a letter in Tagalog to the women of Malolos, the townmates of del Pilar (22
February 1889), where the author emphasized the important role played
by women in the progress of the country, society, and family (Rizal,
1961:64-73). Despite the opposition and refusal of the friars, the women of
Malolos persisted in fighting for the right to have an education. And this
was through studying Spanish first, the colonial language, and the means
to acquire knowledge and awareness about contemporary events. The
latter can be read in the smuggled literature of the Propaganda Movement
whose distribution was strictly prohibited by the Comisin permanente de
censura. This did not prevent the dissemination of subversive readings.
In 1892, the constabulary confiscated some copies of El filibusterismo in a
simultaneous raid of houses in Bulacan, Pampanga, and Tarlac (Guerrero,
1969:339), which had just recently been visited by Governor Eulogio
Despujol.
Busy with his research in London, where he composed the famous
letter, Rizal (Fischer, 1970) was occupied in detailing his annotations to the
chronicle Sucesos de las islas filipinas (Mexico, 1609) of Antonio de Morga,
doctor of canonical and civil law (Morga, 1964). Rizal planned to smuggle
the book with the help of Jose Maria Basa from Hong Kong to Manila
through Manuel Arias Rodriguez, a Spanish mason who owned Agencia
editorial. The book had an introduction by the Filipinologist Blumentritt
(Sichrovsky, 1987), El historiador de Filipinas (Schumacher, 1973:72), a
scholar from Austria who became a confidant and close friend of Rizal. The
latter undertook research from 1888 in the library of the British Museum in
order to discover the important historical sources which would be an
effective weapon of the nationalist discourse against the deluge of attacks
and insults disseminated by Francisco Gainza, O.P., Vicente Barrantes,
Pablo Feced y Temprano alias Quioquiap, Miguel Lucio Bustamante,
Casimiro Herrero, Gaspar de San Agustin, Francisco Caamaque and
other anti-Filipino Spanish writers whose mental frameworks derived
from the popular ideology of racism of the 19th century.
For example, Francisco Gainza, O.P., the bishop assigned to the diocese
of Nueva Caceres in 1863, proclaimed that the Bicol region owed their
natural culture and civilization to the Spanish missionaries who lifted them
from their lowly material and moral situation. Because of this, they no
longer live in sordid conditions and indignity, which was a far cry from the
way of life of their savage ancestors, whose uncivilized state was made
worse by ignorance, worship of idols, cruel sacrifices which required that
78
blood be spilled, cursed dances, noisy and indecent celebrations (Schumacher, 1973:192-193). It was Fr. Cura Gaspar de San Agustin who said
that the Filipino who descended from the apes, had only half a soul (Schumacher, 1973:64). Author of Recuerdos de Filipinas: Cosas, casos y usos de
aquellas islas (Madrid, 1877), Caamaque wrote that the indolence of the
indio/native was beyond remedy; he regarded the indolence of the
natives as the primary characteristic of the local population which he
chastised and loathed. Rizal had a radical reaction to this in his annotation
of Morga, and to the two long essays which were published in La solidaridad,
Filipinas dentro de cien aos (The Philippines a Century Hence, 1889) and
Sobre la indolencia de los filipinos (On the Indolence of the Filipinos, 1890). In
the first essay, he reminded the colonizing country that the natives had
their own government, religion, laws, customs, characteristics, ways of
writing, literature and music which would slowly disappear with the
advent of the new age (of terror and disorder) when the Philippines came
under the Spanish crown. In the second essay, Rizal told the mocking
Spaniards that, in truth, the Spaniards were the hardheaded and lazy ones.
To the question, how do they live in a tropical land? Rizal provided the
answer: They are surrounded by many helpers, they never walk, instead
they always ride in their carriages, and they always need helpers, not only
to remove their boots or shoes but to fan them! they live and eat
abundantly, work for themselves alone in order to become rich, with hope
in the future, free and respected, while the lowly subjects, the lazy subjects
are not eating well, they are without hope, they work for others, and are
forced to work and are even raped! (Rizal, 1961:264). Rizal also said that
if there is laziness/indolence on the part of the natives, this resulted from
an unprogressive quality of life, and was made worse by oppressive
governance.
The efforts of Rizal to deepen and enhance knowledge about Philippine
history and civilization, including its relation to the Malayan-Polynesian
world, led to his founding of the Association Internationale des Philippinistes
(International Association of Filipinologists), in Paris in 1889, which was
composed of scholars from different countries who were interested in the
Philippines as a field of expertise (Zaide, 1968:34-35; Schumacher, 1973:208212; Guerrero, 1969:221-222). The primary objective of the group was the
study of the Philippines from a scientific and historical perspective. Among
the planned activities were regular conferences and lectures, public contests about topics related to the Archipelago, and to try to put up a museum
and library whose contents will focus on the Philippines.
Rizal planned to call for an international congress in August 1889,
simultaneous with the Paris Exposition, where well-known experts and
scholars would discuss the following topics: (1) pre-Hispanic times (before
79
1521), (2) from the time of discovery to the loss of Filipino independence
(1521-1808), (3) from the loss of independence to the Rebellion in Cavite
(1808-1872), and (4) Linguistics (Tagalog, Visaya, Iloko, Ibanag, Kapampangan, Pangasinan, and others).
The leadership of the association was composed of Ferdinand Blumentritt (President), Edmund Plauchut (French, Vice President), Antonio
Regidor and Reinhold Rost (the latter was an English born in Germany) as
advisers, and Rizal (as Secretary). Through Blumentritt, Rizal also met
Adolf B. Meyer (Director of the Ethnographic Museum of Dresden), Rudolf
Virchow (an anthrolopologist who was active in the liberal movement in
Germany), Feodor Jagor (he was in the Philippines in 1859-1860 and author
of Reisen in den Philippinen, 1873), and Wilhelm Joest (an expert in ethnography). Rizal also became a member of Gesellschaft fr Anthropologie, Ethnologie und Urgeschichte, with the help of Virchow, president of the organization. In April 1887, he read a paper in front of the assembly regarding the
art of Tagalog poetry. He also published, with the help of Rost, articles
which featured the folklore of the Tagalogs in Trbners Record, a field
which interested Hendrik Kern, professor of Sanskrit and Javanese in the
University of Leiden (Holland) and an expert in Malayan-Polynesian
languages. Kern was born in Java in 1883 and died in Utrecht in 1917 at the
age of 84 (Kern, 1998:10). He studied Tagalog closely and he read a paper
about its use in the national literature in an international conference of
orientalists held in Stockholm, Sweden (Schumacher, 1973:211). Rizal
heard of Kern from Blumentritt but he was not sure whether they will meet
in person.
The international conference did not push through because the French
government limited the number of conferences related to the Paris Exposition in 1889. The association did not also last long because Rizal was also
busy in his work annotating Morga. Also, the financial support from the
Philippines, which Rizal expected in April 1890, did not arrive because his
family was seriously involved in an agrarian dispute in Calamba, which
resulted in his familys dismissal from the hacienda owned by the Dominican order.
Rizal went back to the Philippines to found the reformist La liga filipina
in Tondo on July 3, 1892. The following were the objectives of the new
organization which were embodied in the constitution prepared by Rizal
in Hong Kong: (1) unite the whole Archipelago into a strong, stable, and
common group of citizens, (2) support one another in times of need, (3) put
up a defense against all kinds of oppression/violence, (4) revitalize education, agriculture, and commerce, and (5) study and implement the planned
reforms (Agoncillo, 1980:154). La liga was short-lived. The authorities
considered it subversive. On July 7, 1892, Rizal was arrested and exiled to
80
REFERENCES
Agoncillo, Teodoro
1980 Ang Pilipinas at ang Mga Pilipino: Noon at Ngayon. Quezon City: R.P. Garcia Publishing
Co., Inc.
1974
Alejandrino, Jose
1949 The Price of Freedom. Translated into English by Jose M. Alejandrino. Manila: M. Colcol
& Company.
Alzona, Encarnacion
1971 Galicano Apacible: Profile of A Filipino Patriot. The Heirs of Galicano Apacible.
Bustamante, Miguel Lucio
1996 Si Tandang Basio Macunat. Modernisadong Bersyon ng Aklat Bulawan. Quezon City:
Sentro ng Wikang Filipino.
1885
81
Epistolario de Marcelo H. del Pilar. Manila: Imprenta del Gobierno. Tomo II.
1955
De Veyra, Jaime
1946 El ultimo adis de Rizal: Estudio Critico-Expositivo en Dos Partes. Manila: Bureau of
Printing.
Fischer, Georges
1970 Jose Rizal, 1861-1896: Un aspect du nationalisme moderne. Paris: Franois Maspero.
Guerrero, Leon Ma.
1969 The First Filipino: A Biography of Jose Rizal. Manila: Jose Rizal National Centennial
Commission.
Jaena, Graciano Lopez
1974 Speeches, Articles and Letters. Translated into English by E. Alzona. Manila: National
Historical Institute.
Joaquin, Nick
1981 A Question of Heroes. Manila: National Book Store.
Kern, Hendrik
1998 The Philippines in Rizals Time. Translated from Dutch by Antoon Postma. In 1898:
The Shaping of Philippine History, II(17):10-17.
Larkin, John
1993 The Pampangans: Colonial Society in a Philippine Province. Quezon City: New Day Publishers.
Manuel, E. Arsenio
1970 Dictionary of Philippine Biography. Vol. II. Quezon City: Filipiniana Publications.
1955
Mojares, Resil
1982 Origins and Rise of the Filipino Novel: A Generic Study of the Novel until 1940. Quezon City:
University of the Philippines Press.
Morga, Antonio de
1964 Mga Pangyayari sa Sangkapuluang Pilipinas 1609. Manila: National Heroes Commission.
82
Quirino, Carlos
1995 Whos Who in Philippine History. Manila: Tahanan Books.
Retana, Wenceslao
1965 Press Censorship in the Philippines.Translated into English by Alfonso Lecaros y del
Mundo. In The Philippine Colophon, (January - June):26-52. (Also published in Nuestro
Tiempo, Madrid, 1907.)
Rizal, Jose
1961 Mga Akdang Pampulitika at Pangkasaysayan. Manila:National Commission on the Centenary of Jose Rizal.
Salazar, Zeus
1998 The Malayan Connection: Ang Pilipinas sa Dunia Melayu. Quezon City: Palimbagan ng
Lahi.
1983
The Ethnic Dimension: Essays on Philippine Culture, History and Psychology. Cologne:
Counselling Center for Filipinos.
Revolutionary Clergy: The Filipino Clergy and the Nationalist Movement, 1850-1903. Quezon
City: Ateneo de Manila Press.
1973
Sichrovsky, Harry
1987 Ferdinand Blumentritt, An Austrian Life for the Philippines: The Story of Jose Rizals Closest
Friend and Companion. Manila: National Historical Institute.
Teodoro, Noel
1998 Rizal and Kartini, Public Policy, April-June, II(2):117-129.
Zaide, Gregorio
1968 The Philippine Revolution. Manila: The Modern Book Company.